Labour has opened up a 15 point opinion poll lead over the Conservatives but
most voters do not want Ed Miliband to become prime minister.

In findings which will be disappointing for both parties, the Tories dropped to 30 per cent of the vote, down four points since July and their lowest level since the last election, while the Labour leader was supported by just 31 per cent.

The Populus poll for The Times found that Labour would win an outright majority with 45 per cent of the vote if an election was held tomorrow, an increase of five points and the party's highest share of this Parliament. The Liberal Democrats were down two points to 10 per cent of the vote.

There was a stark contrast between Labour's popularity and that of its leader. Mr Miliband trailed David Cameron substantially when voters were asked who they preferred in No 10, with the Prime Minister winning the backing of 60 per cent, up four points since June.

The findings are likely to stoke fears within Labour about the leader's inability to connect with voters. Earlier this month, Mr Miliband's declaration that he would win support with a new concept he called "pre-distribution" was roundly mocked as an indication of his lack of common touch.

Asked to pick three words which described the party leaders best, voters selected "out of his depth," "weak," "out of touch" and "indecisive" for both Mr Miliband and Nick Clegg. Mr Miliband was also labelled "weird," while the Liberal Democrat leader was said not to listen.

Mr Cameron was described as "out of touch," "arrogant," and "doesn't listen." However, voters also said that the Prime Minister "stands up for Britain". The fifth most common word chosen to describe Mr Cameron was "smug".

The Prime Minister and his Deputy will be discouraged by the poll's finding that the success of the Olympics has not been translated into a bounce for the two governing parties.

In more bad news for Mr Cameron, only 23 per cent of voters said that they were happy with the job he was doing. Another 37 per cent were dissatisfied but preferred him to Mr Miliband.

Conservative insiders have attempted to play down the party's poor opinion poll findings in recent months, pointing out that Labour opened up a 24 point lead before going on to lose the 1992 general election.

The Coalition will take heart from other findings which show that nearly half of voters back the Government's deficit reduction strategy, despite the austerity drive and lack of growth, suggesting that Labour has failed to blame its rivals for the pain of the recession.

But in a sign of the damage done to the Coalition by Chancellor George Osborne's much-criticised Budget, the number who said that the Government was handling the economy "well" fell from 48 per cent last September to 39 per cent.

Slightly more people, 54 per cent, agreed with the Labour position that: “it would damage the economy and public services if cuts were made too quickly. So, even if it means borrowing more for longer, we should slow the pace of cuts”.

Another 46 per cent backed the Conservative stance that: “longer we go on borrowing, the more tax we pay to fund it and the less public services we can afford. So, even though this means bigger spending cuts over the next few years we must get back to balance by 2017”.

The figures have remained broadly stable in the last year and a half. However, the number of those who trust Mr Miliband and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, to run the economy has begun to rise from a low of 24 per cent in October 2011, reaching 32 per cent now, just four points behind Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne.

Overall, 39 per cent said that the Coalition was doing “well,” down from 48 per cent last year and 59 per cent in September 2010. Just over a third backed Mr Cameron on his handling of Europe.

Populus interviewed 1,510 voters between September 14 and 16 by telephone.